Research

Surveillance of healthcare-associated infection in hospitalised South African children: Which method performs best?

A Dramowski, M F Cotton, A Whitelaw

Abstract

Background. In 2012, the South African (SA) National Department of Health mandated surveillance of healthcare-associated infection (HAI), but made no recommendations of appropriate surveillance methods.

Methods. Prospective clinical HAI surveillance (the reference method) was conducted at Tygerberg Children’s Hospital, Cape Town, from 1 May to 31 October 2015. Performance of three surveillance methods (point prevalence surveys (PPSs), laboratory surveillance and tracking of antimicrobial prescriptions) was compared with the reference method using surveillance evaluation guidelines. Factors associated with failure to detect HAI were identified by logistic regression analysis.

A Whitelaw, Division of Medical Microbiology, Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University and National Health Laboratory Service, Tygerberg Hospital, Cape Town, South Africa